Under the Table and Into His Heart

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At the Under the Table host club, Valentine’s Day means one thing: cash. Neglected housewives, newly ex-girlfriends, and lovelorn thirtysomethings pay for the attention of handsome men. Shy bartender Jem has always wanted to be a host, and when the club’s owner, Miss Rye, accepts a contract from a MensLove Convention, Jem volunteers to flirt and make out with another host for the ladies’ entertainment. Bailey, an older man who’s had his eye on Jem, convinces Miss Rye to let him be Jem’s partner, and everyone gets more than they expected—especially Jem and Bailey.

I thoroughly enjoyed this debut story by Raine. This was a nice change from what can be a very cookie cutter story genre(MM). The characters and setting were unique. I got a good sense of who they were from their actions and reactions. Also, I really enjoyed the premise of the club and can't wait to see how she works in other MM stories there. For me I tend to like my stories angsty and dark but this was light and fun and I loved it. :)

Review of Under the Table and Into His Heart

By Heather Kobos on Feb 1, 2014 03:02

**3.5 stars**
Welcome to the club of published authors, Raine O'Tierney! A lovely debut novella, if I do say so myself. This was a wonderful way to kick off my reading of the entire A Valentine Rainbow Set. It had a few of my personal favorite themes so it worked very well for me.
The plot takes place at a hosting club, where neglected women can come spend some time in the company of some hot men. When a group of women requests two of the hosts get a little... intimate... with each other, Jem jumps at the chance to participate. But when Bailey pushes to play with Jem, will it be just acting or something more?
I loved Jem's delicious innocent nature (what can I say, I love me some corruption!) and I thought he had nice chemistry with Bailey. I could have used more of a slow buildup and a slow burn, but this short is only 49 pages so I it is hard to do slow burn in that amount of space. I also think that the relationship could have been \"like\" and not \"love\" and I would have been happier. However, this was sweet and a little sappy and I was very pleased with it.